General lighting in commercial buildings is normally provided by placing troffers or lighting panels in suspended ceilings at regular intervals when the building is built. Depending on the occupant, this may not provide for the most efficient use of the lighting system. By providing the building with temporary lighting until the space is rented or purchased, and allowing the occupant to select the lighting system most appropriate to his needs, a more optimum system can be installed. The instant invention allows the electricians to install the conduit, junction boxes and a special socketed-cover plate that can be used with a low cost lighting base module to provide temporary lighting. When the building is rented or sold, the temporary lighting can be replaced with power supply modules to power gas-discharge luminaires or light emitting diode (LED) type lighting panels. Since the power supply module merely mounts onto the socketed-cover plates via a connector there is no wiring that needs to be handled by an electrician. The wiring between the power supply module outputs and the inputs to the luminaires is also accomplished via cables with connectors.
In addition general lighting that is installed at the time the building is built as opposed to when it is occupied can also benefit from this system in that the electrician need only wire up the socketed-cover plates. Much lower cost installers can then be used to install the rest of the lighting system. In the event of a failure of a power supply module, a maintenance person can make the replacement without having to call an electrician.